musings from an informed urban planner and an uninformed TV writer

Sonia Gandhi Has Had A Crazy Life

A brief timeline of Sonia Gandhi’s life:

1946 – Born Sonia Maino in a small industrial Northern Italian town. Her father was “a builder, a stern self mad man who had fought alongside the Wehrmacht against the Russians on the eastern front and who remained an unrepentant Fascist until his death. A leather bound collection of Mussolini’s speeches sat proudly in his front room.” (Patrick French’s 1998 New Yorker piece. Subscription required, unfortunately)

1965 – Sonia goes to England to learn English. One day, she’s eating lunch at a restaurant when a 20 year old Cambridge student, Rajiv Gandhi, sees her. Rajiv is son of Indira Gandhi (India’s third Prime Minister), grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru (india’s first Prime Minister), and no relation to Mahatma Gandhi (the last name is just a fortunate accident for an Indian political family).

1968 – Sonia and Rajiv get married. She’s 22. They are attractive:

Sonia moves to India. Rajiv avoids politics and goes to work as a pilot for Indian Airlines.

1984 – Sonia’s mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, is assassinated by one of her own bodyguards. That night, Rajiv, a college dropout without any ministerial experience, is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of India.

1998 – Sonia reenters public life to campaign for the Congress party, which was expected to lose most of its seats. Sonia visits 138 constituencies in 34 days. Congress gains 28 seats. Sonia becomes president of the party.